Thill-coupling.



No. 636,83l.

Patented Nov. l4, I899.

H. A. MOYER.

THILL COUPLING.

(Application filed Sept. 21, 1898.)

2 Sheets-Sheet I,

m aw 5 {N0 Modal.)

ATTORNEY,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARVEY A. MOYER, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

THlLL-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 636,831, dated November 14, 1899.

Application filed September 21, 1898. Serial No. 691,507. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HARVEY A. MOYER, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Thill-Oouplings, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to the class of thillcouplings in which a coupling-hook fastened to the axle receives the coupling-pin and a movable jaw is made to lock the couplingpin in said hook and is removable from its locking position to permit of a ready detachment of the thill when desired.

The object of my present invention is to provide a thill-coupling which shall be simple and strong in construction, safe, convenient, and efficient in operation, and efiectually prevent rattlingof the coupling without requiring the usual autirattling bushing; and to that end the invention consists in the improved construction and combination of parts hereinafter described, and set forth in the claim.

The invention isfully illustrated in the an nexed drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side View of a thill-coupling embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same with the thill detached from the coupling. Fig. 3 is a side view of the coupling in position to receive the thill, and Fig. 4 is a side view illustrating the unlimited adj ustability of the movable coupling-jaw.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A denotes the front axle of a vehicle.

25 represents the thill-iron, and t the coupling-pin, which may be of any suitable shape and formed either integral with the thill-iron, as shown, or separate therefrom of the form of a bolt passing through the thill-iron.

0. represents the stationary upwardly and rearwardly extending coupling jaw or hook, which is formed on a forward extension of the draft-bar a, fastened to the under side of the axle A by a clip 0. Back of the hook a is a rigid upwardly-projecting shoulder 12, formed on the draft-bar a, the front face of which shoulder is inclined from the top forward, as shown at b. This shoulder is sufficiently remote from the end of the hook to permit the coupling-pin t to be freely passed between them and placed in the hook a.

(1 represents the movable coupling-jaw, consisting of a block which is shaped to pass between the shoulder 17 and hook at and bear with its front face upon the rear and upper portion of the coupling-pin t. The back of said jaw or block is beveled or inclined correspondin g with the inclination of the front face of the shoulderb, and in moving the saidjaw to its coupling position it slides down on the said inclined face of the shoulder and is thereby forced forward to more firmly press on the coupling-pin held in the hook at. Inasmuch as the jaw d is permitted to pass freely through the space between the shoulderband end of the hook a, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, the bearing of the jaw 03 upon the coupling-pin is unlimited, and the wear upon said jaw and pin can invariably be taken up to prevent rattling.

In order to maintain the movable jaw d in perfect range with the stationary j aw or hook at for gripping the coupling-pin t between them, I form the front face 6 of the shoulder b with a guide e, extending from thetop down to the bottom therefrom, and form the back of the jaw 01 correspondingly, as shown at e in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

To retain the jaw d in its coupling position and cause the same to automatically take up the wear of the coupling-pin and engaging faces of the coupling-jaws, I attach to the under side of the draft-bar a a spring f, the free end of which is connected to the movable jaw d by a link Z.

I do not limit myself to any particular form of spring and its attachment, but prefer to employ a U shaped spring pivoted at one end to a stud h on the under side of the draft-bar and carrying on its free end the link Z, similar to the spring and link shown in my Letters Patent No. 610,768, dated September 13, 1898. In swinging said spring forward on its pivot it is caused to lift the jaw from its coupling position, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, and in swinging the spring rearward after the coupling-pin is placed in the hook at and the jaw d placed upon the front face of the shoulder b, as shown in Fig. 1 of the draw ings, said jaw is caused to be forced downward and forward, a movable jaw sliding on said shoulder and carried thereby forward in moving to its coupling position, a springconneoted to the draft-bar, and a link connecting the free end of said spring to the movable jaw as set forth.

HARVEY A. MOYER.

Witnesses:

J. J. LAASS, H. B. SMITH. 

